Touch Up

by Stewart MasonA remixed, resequenced version of what had been Mother Mother's D.I.Y. self-titled debut from 2006, Touch Up is an engagingly quirky folk-rock record strongly reminiscent of both the Roches and the trio's Vancouver compatriots the Be Good Tanyas. The biggest difference is that one-third of the trio, singer-guitarist Ryan Guldemond, is a boy-type person with a voice considerably less sweet than those of his sister Molly Guldemond and family friend Debra-Jean Creelman: his yelping leads on "Verbatim" and "Neighbour" show why Molly and Debra-Jean's close harmonies are the dominant factor here. But as long as the girls are handling the lead vocals, the songs on Touch Up are charmingly jagged bits of alt-folk very much akin to the Roches' '70s and '80s flirtations with art rock, new wave and modern jazz. The title track in particular, a pop/rock gem with slightly neurotic lyrics about makeovers, would fit perfectly on the New York sisters' albums. On its own merits, Touch Up has its flaws -- Ryan's weak lead vocals, some distractingly gimmicky vocal arrangements that seem to be hiding the album's less melodically developed songs -- but they're offset by the trio's likeably odd lyrical obsessions and playful ease.